Bureau of Economic Analysis

Survey of Current Business

Table of Contents May 1996

Selected articles may be accessed by clicking on the links below. (An
Acrobat (PDF) version of the table of
contents is also available; however, links to other files will work only when
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4.0.)

Regular features

Economic growth picked up in the first quarter of 1996: Real
GDP increased 2.8 percent after
increasing 0.5 percent in the fourth
quarter of 1995. Inflation remained
moderate: The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.5 percent after increasing 2.1 percent.

78 Relationship Between Personal Income and Adjusted Gross
Income: New Estimates for 1993–94 and Revisions for 1959–92
(PDF)

BEA’s
measure of personal income and the IRS
measure of adjusted gross income—two widely used measures of household
income—are reconciled through a series of adjustments for definitional and
statistical differences between the two measures. This reconciliation
incorporates the results of the recent comprehensive revision of the NIPA’s
and several improvements that have been made in the estimation of the
reconciliation items.

Personal income in the Nation increased 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 1995, the same
rate of increase as in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Utah had the
largest increase in personal income, 2.3
percent, and Nebraska had the smallest increase, 0.2
percent. In the year 1995, per capita
personal income in the Nation increased 5.0
percent, while U.S. prices increased only 2.4 percent. In all States except North Dakota and South Dakota, the
increases in per capita income exceeded the increase in U.S. prices.

National Income and Product Accounts. As noted last month, because BEA has placed top priority on getting
release of its current estimates back on schedule and on completing the
comprehensive revision of the
NIPA’s, this summer’s annual
revision will be limited in scope. The next annual revision will be in summer 1997,
when all NIPA-related
data from the comprehensive revision will be complete and work on key data
improvement projects should be available for incorporation into the accounts.
The updated schedule of 1996 release dates for BEA estimates appears on page 102 of this issue.

Projections
for Metropolitan Areas and for
BEA Economic Areas.
The June SURVEY will contain an article that
presents projected trends to the year 2005 in employment, in other measures of
economic activity, and in population for metropolitan areas and for BEA economic areas. The article will also
describe the methodology used for the projections.